Recycling + Healthcare = Hope

What would you do with a global surplus of shipping containers? If you’re Elizabeth Sheehan, you use a lifetime of international emergency medicine experience and a keen business mind to start Containers to Clinics (C2C) and turn a recycling nightmare into a portable heathcare delivery system. It turns out that those abandoned shipping containers can be converted into low-maintenance healthcare clinics that can easily be transported to wherever they’re needed most.
Elizabeth was inspired to act after witnessing how a lack of access to healthcare costs lives and destroys communities around the world. Did you know that of the 10 million children dying in the world today, 50% of them are dying from easily treatable illnesses? Elizabeth’s goal with C2C is to provide not only the facilities and medical supplies to prevent such unnecessary deaths, but also the training to make each clinic a sustainable operation for the local people. After partnering with many architects, medical suppliers, governments and donors, C2C is ready to launch its first pilot clinic in January in the Dominican Republic.
C2C has plans to deploy many more of these shipping-container clinics around the world, and we’d like to help. As the holiday season winds down, we’re asking the Daily Grommet community to give one more gift: the gift of health and hope. Your donation will bring vital healthcare to the needy and help prevent unnecessary deaths due to lack of access to care.

Containers to Clinics

Give the Gift of Health and Hope

Recycling + Healthcare = Hope

What would you do with a global surplus of shipping containers? If you’re Elizabeth Sheehan, you use a lifetime of international emergency medicine experience and a keen business mind to start Containers to Clinics (C2C) and turn a recycling nightmare into a portable heathcare delivery system. It turns out that those abandoned shipping containers can be converted into low-maintenance healthcare clinics that can easily be transported to wherever they’re needed most.
Elizabeth was inspired to act after witnessing how a lack of access to healthcare costs lives and destroys communities around the world. Did you know that of the 10 million children dying in the world today, 50% of them are dying from easily treatable illnesses? Elizabeth’s goal with C2C is to provide not only the facilities and medical supplies to prevent such unnecessary deaths, but also the training to make each clinic a sustainable operation for the local people. After partnering with many architects, medical suppliers, governments and donors, C2C is ready to launch its first pilot clinic in January in the Dominican Republic.
C2C has plans to deploy many more of these shipping-container clinics around the world, and we’d like to help. As the holiday season winds down, we’re asking the Daily Grommet community to give one more gift: the gift of health and hope. Your donation will bring vital healthcare to the needy and help prevent unnecessary deaths due to lack of access to care.

Grommet Launch Conversation

Grommet Launch Conversation

Elizabeth

I'm Elizabeth Sheehan, the founder of Containers to Clinics that started with an innovative, green idea of converting discarded shipping containers into pristine medical clinics to provide primary health care to the poorest people on earth. I've travelled to 50 countries in 10 years to see first hand how medicine doesn't get to the last mile and am working with a team of architects, engineers, public health professionals and entrepreneurs to scale a cool idea around the world.

I am thrilled that the Daily Grommet has chosen to tell the story of Containers2Clinics.org. Their support and your support mean so much to thousands of marginalized women and children. When you give to a cause, I know it's important to you to feel comfortable about the organization, so please feel free to ask me any questions you have. I'd love to talk more about our mission with you.

Mark P

12/24/2009 12:11 PM

Hi Elizabeth, I read about your program in the Boston Globe recently and was really impressed with your innovative and eco-friendly approach to a significant global health problem. I applaud your focus and goals to benefit so many. We are happily giving a donation. Merry Christmas!

mona

12/24/2009 12:49 PM

Elizabeth - what an excellent idea - and eco-friendly too! Thank you for pursuing this, I'm sure there was plenty of "red tape"!!

Macco

4/24/2011 11:14 AM

Walking in the presence of giants here. Cool tkhniing all around!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 1:49 PM

Thank you for your comments and contributions. Please make sure to go to our web site - www.containers2clinics.org - and register to recieve our newsletter!

Margaret

12/24/2009 2:04 PM

Liz, you and your team truly define the meaning of Christmas. Thank you for taking inspiration and turning it into action, and for allowing us to help make a difference!

Sara – Grommet Team

12/24/2009 2:18 PM

I had the opportunity to tour the clinic and speak with Elizabeth and her team at C2C. Elizabeth is a remarkable and brilliant woman who truly has "walked the walk". As an international healthcare provider herself, she has been to these global communities and personally given the care, so she knows just what is needed to bring quality, immediate primary healthcare to this vulnerable population. As she says, 100% of your donation will directly to the actual healthcare of people who desperately need it. Our friend of Daily Grommet met Elizabeth and her team as well and was so impressed, she generously decided to match donations up to $10,000! This is indeed a unique cause to get behind!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 3:29 PM

Thank YOU Sara..It was my honor to work with you and the entire DG team! Ho Ho HO

Julia

12/24/2009 4:07 PM

This might be my favourite Grommet yet! As someone with an international public health background who has been to many countries where these "container clinics" could make a world of difference, I applaud C2C and the Daily Grommet for covering this non-profit organization. We all have way too many material possessions anyway, so I think a donation to a group such as C2C in honor of friends and family is a great way to truly give a gift that benefits everyone! Hooray for the matching donor!

ann

12/24/2009 4:42 PM

This is an exciting concept. I am troubled though that she is not focusing on rural and inner city america - the need for clinics and healthcare is just as great in those ares. If you don't believe me go online and search for newsarticles on the free healthcare clinics that had people waiting for days - in Los Angeles.

claudia

12/24/2009 9:13 PM

Wonderful model, Sara. It is great that your model can be adapted to local conditions and needs. I work with an organization providing care in Central America, and wonder if you have found good resources for providing ongoing supplies of medications, supplies, and providers at your clinics. Also, shipping costs are quite expensive and thus fundraising is so important. Thanks to Daily Grommet for highlighting the work of your dedicated and creative team!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 9:25 PM

Dear Claudia..Thank you for your comments and we at C2C would be very interested to talk with you about your work in Central America. Please email me at [email protected] Christmas

charlie c.

12/26/2009 2:02 PM

Great work all the way around - and thanks to the generous "matching" support - glad to contribute at year end to this very worthy cause.

Katherine – Grommet Team

12/30/2009 9:27 PM

YOU DID IT! A huge thank you from all of us at Daily Grommet to our great community that has come together to donate more than $10,000 to this worthy cause! You are making the world better through your generosity.

Hannah

12/31/2009 12:19 PM

Congratulations Elizabeth and Daily Grommet folks, and thanks for the good work that you are doing as well, Elizabeth! I'm glad that people came through for you and more success in the future.

Katherine – Grommet Team

1/20/2010 1:23 PM

Containers 2 Clinics is working hard to get some converted containers into Haiti to give them much needed additional medical working facilities. You can read about their efforts here:

I am sure all of you have been following the catastrophe that is unfolding 90 miles from our shores. Since last Tuesday, C2C has been working (almost 24-7!) to deploy the container clinics to assist in the medical relief effort. For many of you that joined us at the ICA in November, it is easy to imagine the utility, versatility and functionality these clinics could have in a disaster situation of this sort. We will continue to pursue our mission to provide medical care to the most people vulnerable on earth and clearly, the Haitian in PAP fall in that category.

Our goal is to secure international partners who are involved in the relief effort, specifically the large agencies that provide medical supplies and pharmaceuticals along with agencies that are sending doctors, nurses and logistic support. We are extremely hopeful and about 80% confident that we will deploy the clinics. As you can imagine, deployment has NOT been easy. The ports are destroyed, the only airport is overwhelmed, petrol, security and basic food items are all scarce.

Historically, C2C has been so successful because of every one of you and as many of you know, C2C is all about the "little containers that could".

Recently Viewed

Containers to Clinics

Give the Gift of Health and Hope

Recycling + Healthcare = Hope

What would you do with a global surplus of shipping containers? If you’re Elizabeth Sheehan, you use a lifetime of international emergency medicine experience and a keen business mind to start Containers to Clinics (C2C) and turn a recycling nightmare into a portable heathcare delivery system. It turns out that those abandoned shipping containers can be converted into low-maintenance healthcare clinics that can easily be transported to wherever they’re needed most.

Elizabeth was inspired to act after witnessing how a lack of access to healthcare costs lives and destroys communities around the world. Did you know that of the 10 million children dying in the world today, 50% of them are dying from easily treatable illnesses? Elizabeth’s goal with C2C is to provide not only the facilities and medical supplies to prevent such unnecessary deaths, but also the training to make each clinic a sustainable operation for the local people. After partnering with many architects, medical suppliers, governments and donors, C2C is ready to launch its first pilot clinic in January in the Dominican Republic.

C2C has plans to deploy many more of these shipping-container clinics around the world, and we’d like to help. As the holiday season winds down, we’re asking the Daily Grommet community to give one more gift: the gift of health and hope. Your donation will bring vital healthcare to the needy and help prevent unnecessary deaths due to lack of access to care.Read MoreRead Less

No longer available

Grommet Launch Conversation

Elizabeth

I'm Elizabeth Sheehan, the founder of Containers to Clinics that started with an innovative, green idea of converting discarded shipping containers into pristine medical clinics to provide primary health care to the poorest people on earth. I've travelled to 50 countries in 10 years to see first hand how medicine doesn't get to the last mile and am working with a team of architects, engineers, public health professionals and entrepreneurs to scale a cool idea around the world.

I am thrilled that the Daily Grommet has chosen to tell the story of Containers2Clinics.org. Their support and your support mean so much to thousands of marginalized women and children. When you give to a cause, I know it's important to you to feel comfortable about the organization, so please feel free to ask me any questions you have. I'd love to talk more about our mission with you.

Mark P

12/24/2009 12:11 PM

Hi Elizabeth, I read about your program in the Boston Globe recently and was really impressed with your innovative and eco-friendly approach to a significant global health problem. I applaud your focus and goals to benefit so many. We are happily giving a donation. Merry Christmas!

mona

12/24/2009 12:49 PM

Elizabeth - what an excellent idea - and eco-friendly too! Thank you for pursuing this, I'm sure there was plenty of "red tape"!!

Macco

4/24/2011 11:14 AM

Walking in the presence of giants here. Cool tkhniing all around!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 1:49 PM

Thank you for your comments and contributions. Please make sure to go to our web site - www.containers2clinics.org - and register to recieve our newsletter!

Margaret

12/24/2009 2:04 PM

Liz, you and your team truly define the meaning of Christmas. Thank you for taking inspiration and turning it into action, and for allowing us to help make a difference!

Sara – Grommet Team

12/24/2009 2:18 PM

I had the opportunity to tour the clinic and speak with Elizabeth and her team at C2C. Elizabeth is a remarkable and brilliant woman who truly has "walked the walk". As an international healthcare provider herself, she has been to these global communities and personally given the care, so she knows just what is needed to bring quality, immediate primary healthcare to this vulnerable population. As she says, 100% of your donation will directly to the actual healthcare of people who desperately need it. Our friend of Daily Grommet met Elizabeth and her team as well and was so impressed, she generously decided to match donations up to $10,000! This is indeed a unique cause to get behind!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 3:29 PM

Thank YOU Sara..It was my honor to work with you and the entire DG team! Ho Ho HO

Julia

12/24/2009 4:07 PM

This might be my favourite Grommet yet! As someone with an international public health background who has been to many countries where these "container clinics" could make a world of difference, I applaud C2C and the Daily Grommet for covering this non-profit organization. We all have way too many material possessions anyway, so I think a donation to a group such as C2C in honor of friends and family is a great way to truly give a gift that benefits everyone! Hooray for the matching donor!

ann

12/24/2009 4:42 PM

This is an exciting concept. I am troubled though that she is not focusing on rural and inner city america - the need for clinics and healthcare is just as great in those ares. If you don't believe me go online and search for newsarticles on the free healthcare clinics that had people waiting for days - in Los Angeles.

claudia

12/24/2009 9:13 PM

Wonderful model, Sara. It is great that your model can be adapted to local conditions and needs. I work with an organization providing care in Central America, and wonder if you have found good resources for providing ongoing supplies of medications, supplies, and providers at your clinics. Also, shipping costs are quite expensive and thus fundraising is so important. Thanks to Daily Grommet for highlighting the work of your dedicated and creative team!

Elizabeth – Special Guest

12/24/2009 9:25 PM

Dear Claudia..Thank you for your comments and we at C2C would be very interested to talk with you about your work in Central America. Please email me at [email protected] Christmas

charlie c.

12/26/2009 2:02 PM

Great work all the way around - and thanks to the generous "matching" support - glad to contribute at year end to this very worthy cause.

Katherine – Grommet Team

12/30/2009 9:27 PM

YOU DID IT! A huge thank you from all of us at Daily Grommet to our great community that has come together to donate more than $10,000 to this worthy cause! You are making the world better through your generosity.

Hannah

12/31/2009 12:19 PM

Congratulations Elizabeth and Daily Grommet folks, and thanks for the good work that you are doing as well, Elizabeth! I'm glad that people came through for you and more success in the future.

Katherine – Grommet Team

1/20/2010 1:23 PM

Containers 2 Clinics is working hard to get some converted containers into Haiti to give them much needed additional medical working facilities. You can read about their efforts here:

I am sure all of you have been following the catastrophe that is unfolding 90 miles from our shores. Since last Tuesday, C2C has been working (almost 24-7!) to deploy the container clinics to assist in the medical relief effort. For many of you that joined us at the ICA in November, it is easy to imagine the utility, versatility and functionality these clinics could have in a disaster situation of this sort. We will continue to pursue our mission to provide medical care to the most people vulnerable on earth and clearly, the Haitian in PAP fall in that category.

Our goal is to secure international partners who are involved in the relief effort, specifically the large agencies that provide medical supplies and pharmaceuticals along with agencies that are sending doctors, nurses and logistic support. We are extremely hopeful and about 80% confident that we will deploy the clinics. As you can imagine, deployment has NOT been easy. The ports are destroyed, the only airport is overwhelmed, petrol, security and basic food items are all scarce.

Historically, C2C has been so successful because of every one of you and as many of you know, C2C is all about the "little containers that could".